For Programmers
This one is about trolls. My traditional approach is to kill
messages that go boldly were no men has gone before, but leave other
replies untouched. I consider myself rather tolerant. But sooner or
later I have to face the obnoxious troll.
-
- This is the one that uses scripts to spoil your forum, replies
over and over again with the same sentence (like Jack Nicholson in
The Shining) or does other things that even the mildest moderator
considers to be rude.
Why is the obnoxious troll trying to disrupt your forum? My
conclusion, not based on rocket science, is that the 'berzerk troll'
is driven by a fundamental human need. He wants attention. So I
thought: what would happen if we give the obnoxious troll just what
he wants? He can post whatever he wants.
-
- But no one will see his responses. Only the troll sees them. So
he thinks: wow, they publish my words. In a happy scenario he
doesn't feel the urge to repost his message over and over again.
Joost de Valk, a programmer from the Netherlands, wrote a plug-in
for Wordpress that did just that. He liked my ideas which I have put
on this little site. My hope is to have Cave Your Trolls-mods for
every major forumsoftware and blogsoftware. The idea is not totally
new, but the commitment of some bright programmers is.
-
- Here is where you come in. I need your help for a plug-in for
other boards and (hosted) blogsofware. Till now, only a few days
after this site is up, this is what happened:
- List of projects
Wordpress
In development. Download beta.
SMF
Posted request in
SMF Forum- Escenic
Specs in exchange
vBulletin
Built in as Global Ignore, but with flaws
GX
Idea pitched
Basically the mod should work like this:
1. Obnoxious troll posts !*(&!#&!
2. Moderator checks 'Cave This Reply'
3. Troll sees that his !*(&!#&! is accepted
4. Other users don't see a thing
5. Intelligent trolls (they do exist) wonder why there is no
response. Moderator should be allowed to play with the troll in the
sandbox, by replying
5. When troll is logged out, there should be an
additional IP check so he doesn't get suspicious that his posting is
suddenly gone.
Is this worth all the trouble? IMHO yes - the first tests resulted
in total annihilation of the craziest trolls. Feel free to read more
about the ideas behind it on
http://www.caveyourtrolls.com/about/about.htm or download the WP
plug in.
Please mail me at henk@vaness.nl
if you want to join or know more, thanks.
Henk van Ess
www.searchbistro.com
